Slicing machine



Nov. 8, 192 7.

J. ELDRIDGE ET Al.

SLICING MACHINE Filed April 6. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 8, 1927.

1,648,583 J. ELDRIDGE ETAL SLICING MACHINE Filed April e. 1925 s sheets-sheet 2 v ATTORNE Nov. s, 1927.

J. ELDRIDGE ET AL' SLICING MACHINE Filed April 6. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 Sugg wm A, mm,

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ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 8, 1927.

'UNITED 'SIATES relates ...PATENT @FFICL JOHN ELDBF'G-E, GF OAKLAND, ANI) JOSEPH. SCI-103, QF SAN FBANCSC, CALFOR- NEA; IDA ,MADELINE ELDRIDGE ADlvIENSTRATRIX OFSAID JOI-IN ELDRIDGE, DE-

CEASED.

snrcrns MAorrfNn.

Application filed April G, 1925. '.Serial No. 20,9%.

This invention relates to a slicing machine used for the purpose of slicing cheese, butter, and other similar materials, and its object is to provide a machine which is capable of measuring the slices, and .of increasing or diminishing the thickness of the slices whenever a change may be required.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the slices will be very easily cut off, the slicing being effected with a steel wire inthe place of a knife. It will be understood by those who have ever un '.dertaken to cut loaf cheese, that` it is a very difficult matter to cut slices of a given size with a knife, since thev tendency of the cheese isto cling to the knife and pull the body of the material being cut out of shape, rather than to cut off a satisfactory slice. With the present invention the machine is second-of an inch in thickness up to onehalf inch in thickness with regulated pref cision; larger cuts than that being made by a hand movement of the cheese loaf in the supporting trough.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the die through which the cheese is cut may be removed and another die with wires thereon, .placed in position for cutting butter into small siaeslforzres taurant use, bevinserted in theplaceof lthe cutting die-for the cheese. l Another object (if the invention is to provide means whereby the slices of cheese will be held in a neat pile where a considerable quantity of cheese is being cut, and whereby the slice holder may be turned out of the way when it is desiredto out butter; the butter slices ordinarily being allowed to drop into a pan of ice water.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which the same reference numeral is applied to the same portion throughout, but we are aware that there may be modifications thereof.

Fig. 1 an end elevation of ther machin looking from the right.

Fig.V 2A is a sideelevation ofthe machine, certain parts being shown in section, looking from the left, Fig. 1.

Fign 3 is a plan view ofthe complete-inachine. y

Fig. l is .a front elevationof the cheese arranged to produce slices from one-thirty supporting trough, showing` the'butter. die just ready to be placed in position thereon. Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5--5 of Figure l of the means for holding one end of the cuttingwire' in vthe pin for tightening the wire on the butter die.

6 is a view of the means for pulling Athe wire tight in the butter .die when its other end has been secured thereto.

lb ig. 3a is a detail showing the spring stop for the guard for regulating the slice thickness.

The machine has a ifshaped trough 1, Vwhich is connected to the supporting frames 2 'and 3, by means of four bolts,illustrated at 4i. 'lhe lower vends of the yframes are spread outwardly from each other, asvindicated at 5, and 6,A to provide an adequate .support for the machine, and they are held a fixed distance apart by meansofbolts 7 and 8, carrying the nuts 9 and 10 at their y ends.

The .l-shaped trough has a bearing 11` at one end, and another bearing12at the other end for the main shaft 13. This shaft is connected to the crankld, .whichV also carries 'an eccentric 15, and an operating handle At its opposite end,v the shaft is connected to an L-shaped arinl?, which arm passes across the slice supporting ytrough the arm 23, carrying the slice'supporting trough 1S.

The arm 23 has a pin 242 extending thereinto, which canengagey one of the two holes in the tube 22. One of these holes if engaged by the pin 24 willhold thetrough in the position shownin 2 Yand 3. The otherhole is so placedas to allow the'trough t o hang downoutofthe way whenbutter is being sliced. This position Vbeing indicated injthe dotted lines in Fig. 1.

AJr ust below the bearing'll, there is arbearing'25, for a short shaft 26, said shaft carrying ntwo gears `27, v28. "The latter is in mesh witha gear '29, on the shaft 1 3, andis driven thereby. The gear l27 isinmeshwith v llV the gear-V21, and the result of the construction just outlined is that the gear 21, with its attached wire 19, willbe rotated at precisely the same rate as the arm 17, thereby reducing the strain onthe wire 19, and making it unnecessary for the wire to d ag the gear 21 around.

The arm is spaced away from the gear 21 by means of a collar 31, and it is`pre vented from moving ofi the end of the tube 22 by a collar 32.

rlhe edges of the slice holder 1S are flanged on both sides, as indicated at 18, Fig. 1, and there is a plat-e 34 with'flanges 35, 36, thereon whichbear,uponthe bottom of the trough .18, and ithas hooks 37, 38, `which engage the flanges 18 to hold the plate upright, a spring 39 at the end of the slice supporting vtrough `prevents it from being pushedofi' asl the slices accumulate in the support.

When the operator starts to slice the cheese, he pushes ythe plate 34 up close against the cutting die.` In order to push the mass of material through the cutting` die 40, a movable plate 41 is used. This plate has an arm 42, which rests upon one edge vof the trough 1, and at the other side of said plate there is an arm 43, which is provided with a spring pressed thumb Vlever 44, said lever being pivotally mounted on the arm 43 at 45, so `that it can raise or lower the pin 46 to engage or disengage said pin from the screw threaded feed rod 47. A spring 48 holds the jpin 46 normally engaged with the threads of the'rod 47. The feed screw 47 is mounted in twobearings 49, 50, on the side of the trough opposite from the shaft 13, and it carries a small pinion 51 at one end thereof, said pinion beingcoveredon all exceptone side by a guard 52.

The gear 51 is in mesh with a larger ygear 53, which gear isrevoluble on a stud 54. `This studalso carries the gage plate 55, and the feed arm 56; said feed arm also carrying the 4pivoted feed pawl 57 The feed arm y 56 is pivotally connected at 58to the eccentric link 59, which link is reciprocated by the eccentricV 15. The ,gage plate has a handle 60, and it has a guard 61. lThe guard carries a graduated plate 62, and it is notched at 63 so thatit can be stopped in "aiiydesired position by bearingagainst a spring pressed plunger 64 supported in a lug 64 on the end of the trough 1. The

lspring is indicated at 64 (see Fig.` 31).`

' This luf" 64 also carries a )ointer65 to deter-mine the position to which the guard plate 61 is tobe moved.

The cheese cutting die merely a rectangular die with open slots at its bottoni to pass over screws 70, 71, 72 at the end of the troughl, to bring the cutting face into alignment with the wire 19;`but when it is desired to cut butter a cutting die `such as 75 .is used. This die is practically the same as the other, except that it is provided with two pins 76, 77', to which the cutting wires 79, 78, are secured at` one'lend; at. the other end, each wire see Fig. 5 and Fig. 6) is inserted into a hole in the end of the rod SO, and secured therein by means of the set screw 81. This rod is threaded as shown in Fig. 6, and the thumb screw S2 serves to draw the wire as tight as may be desired. lt will'also be noticed that "set screw 81 `servesnot only to secure the wire 79 to the screw 80butalso prevents vthe screw 80 fromrotating as the nurled nut 82 is turned to tighten the wire.

It will be seen that the die for cutting butter may also be used for cutting cheese into small squares, or into long strips, if desired, in whichlatter event the wire19" is Atemporarily removed.` y l i In operation `of thevslicing machine a square ofcheese-or butter is placed in the trough 1, the operator then pushes the plate 34 up close to thecutting die 40. `The handle 16 being in the position shown in Figure. 1 is now turned` clockwise which turns the shaft 13` and with it the arm 17 and the cutting wire 19, the end of the cutting wire 19 Vbeing attached to pin 2O ou pinion 2l which is rotatable on the tube 22.

Vthe pinion 21 being in mesh with pinion `27 is then turned at the speed of the shaft 13 by means of the short shaft 26, the pinion,V 28 `and the pinion 29 fixed -on `the shaft, the tube 22 being fixed in the bearing 11 forms fan extendedbeariug for the` slice holding trough `18.` By pulling out Vthe pin 24 the trough 18 will swing down as shown in dot-` ted lines in Figure 1. y A y l/Vhile `the wire yis cutting through the cheese the arm 56is moving hack in the direction `of the arrow in Figure 1 and the pawl 57 idles ovcrthe teethV of the gear 53 and rides `on the guard plate 61 for a short distance depending how the gage plate is set. During the travel of the cutting wire after the slice is cut the arm moves in reverse direction of the arrow and the pawl will slide off` the plate Gland engage the teeth of the gear 53 and move it 'to the end Y of the stroke ofthe arm. `It will be seen that by moving the plate 61 to different Vpositions the movement of the gear 53 is lengthened or shortened and thus the movable plate 41 ieeds` the cheese forwardwto make different thicknesses of slices by means of the screw 47 and the pinion 51. By pressing on the thumb lever 44the plate 41 `can be swung up out of the trough.

v 4To change dies the screws 70-71 and 72 are loosened and the die lifted fout-v andanother slipped in. i y i vWhat we claim is as follows, but various modifications may be made in lthe construction shown inthe drawings and above Particnefastas ularly described form, within the purview of our invention:

l. A slicing machine comprising a supporting trough, a follower therein, a drive shaft on one side of the trough and a feed screw on the other, means to operate the drive shaft, an arm carried thereby, a slice support, means to hold said slice support a short distance from the trough, a wire carried by the arm, a small gear to which said wire is connected at one end, and means to drive said gear from the drive shaft, whereby n'iaterial will be sliced and the gear operated at the saine rate of speed as thearm to reduce the tension necessary for the wire.

2. A slicing machine comprising a supporting trough, a drive shaft on one side of said trough, a feed screw upon the other side, a follower inthe trough driven by said feed screw, means to intermittent-ly operate the feed screw and follower, a slice support, a tubular member surrounding the drive shaft to hold the slice support in a given position, an arm carried by the drive shaft adapted to rotate around the slice support, a cutting wire connected to said arm, a pinion on the supporting tube, said pinion being adapted to hold the other end of said cutting wire, means to drive said pinion at the same rate of speed as the wire supporting arm, and means to vary the thickness of the slices cut.

3. A slicing machine, comprising a support for the material to be sliced, a feed screw on one side of said support, a drive shaft. on kthe other side of said support, a crank on said drive shaft, an eccentric on said shaft adaptedk to swing an arm carrying a pawl, a gear driven in one direction by said pawl, a pinion in mesh with said gear, a screw shaft driven by said pinion, a feed plate with a threaded portion engaged byV said screw shaft, an adpistable guardvplate' adapt-ed to carry said pawl out of engagement with the teeth of said gear for a por* tion of the travel of said pawl to control the movement of said gear.

4;. In a slicing machine, a 4supporting` trough, a, drive shaft on one side of said trough, a feed screw on the opposite side of said trough, a follower operated by said feed screw, a slicing arm carried by the drive shaft, a gearing for operating the feed screw from the drive shaft, including a pawl and an adjustable guard varying the distancev of Contact of said pawl with said gearing to vary the thickness of the slices cut.

5. A slicing machine comprising a support for t-he material to be sliced, a bracket eX- tending from the support, a drive shaft journaled in the bracket, means for turning the shaft, a ring j ournaled on the bracket, a slice holder mounted on the bracket, an arm fixed on said shaft, a cutting element carried by the ring and arm and arranged to move between the support and the slice holder, and means for rotating said ring equally'with the drive shaft. f

G. A slicing machine comprising a support for thematerial to be sliced, a bracket eX- tending` from the support, a drive shaft journaled in the bracket, means for turning the shaft, a ring journaled onthe bracket, a slice holder mounted on the bracket, an arm fixed on said shaft, a cutting element cariied by the ring and arm and arranged to move between the supportand the slice holder, and a ack shaft connected for rotation with both the ring andthe drive shaft.

7. A slicing machine comprising a support for the material to be sliced, a bracket extending from the support, a drive shaft journaled in the bracket, means for turning the shaft, a ring journalled on the bracket, a slice .holder mounted on the bracket, an arm fixed on said shaft, a cutting element carried by the ring and arm and arranged to move'between the support and the slice holder, means for rotating said ring equally with the drive shaft, and means operatively connected to said drive shaftv for feeding` material on said support to the cutting element.'A

8. A slicing machine comprising a support for the material to be sliced, a bracket extending from the support, a drive shaft journaled iii the bracket, means for turning the.

shaft, a ring journaledon the bracket, a slice holder mounted on the bracket and extending closely adjacent the end of the support, an angular arm fixed on the shaft and adapted to rotate bodily about the slice holder when the shaft is turned, a wire held at its 'inner end of said ring and at its'outer end ring` at the same number of turns per minute as said arm.

In rtestimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands March, A. D. 1925. n

JOHN ELDRIDGE. JOSEPH SCI-IOR. 

